The Alpha Prince And His Bride
Book 3 The Alpha’s Substitute Bride – Episode 34

I know I couldn’t face my brothers and parents right now. They would ask too many questions and they would want to also start a war with Hunter. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to bring any harm towards Hunter. He did no wrong. It wasn’t his fault that he was in love with Maggie, it wasn’t his fault because he couldn’t help who he wanted in his life.

I was forced into his life . . . Maggie wasn’t.

This is what happened when you tried to force someone to love you the way that you love them. It never works out. They need to figure it out themselves. It’s the only way that you’ll know its real.

I didn’t think that Hunter would come running towards me however. He had Maggie now. The woman he wanted all along. He may care for me but not as much as he cared for her.

I sighed as I looked at the palace in front of me. I’d decided to come to Lucy and Eden. They would also be pissed with Hunter but not to the extent that my brothers would be. I could also beg them to listen to me but my brothers would not listen to me no matter how much I begged.

The guards took one look at me and opened the gates just like they were taught to do.

I tried to control myself as I entered the compound but it was difficult to do. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Maggie and Hunter together. Now that I was gone they would no doubt be happy. I felt my heart squeeze at the thought of him holding her at night. That was something that I treasured so much, being held by Hunter. He always made me feel protected. I never once felt unsafe in his presence. At every turn my life was put in danger he made sure to save me, even if it meant putting his own life at risk.

I shuddered as I remembered what it felt like to have his lips on me. There were so many beautiful memories with Hunter that it was hard to move forward. I didn’t think that I would ever be able to move forward from losing him. No one would ever be able to take his place. He would always hold a special place in my heart. And I would always wish only the best for him. Even though I wasn’t the woman for him, even though I wanted to be her so badly, I still wanted him to be happy.

I wiped at the tears as soon as I heard footsteps heading my way.

“Isabella?” Maya asked as soon as her eyes fell on me. “Is something wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” She whispered as she wrapped her arms around me.

I didn’t know what came over me next. I dropped to the ground besides her and buried my face in my hands. I couldn’t stop bawling and crying in pain.

This was what it felt like to have your heart completely broken and torn into a million pieces. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Why couldn’t Hunter just love me? Why couldn’t he choose me? Why was I not good enough for him?

But more than any of that, why did I not hate him? Why was he still the sweetest person that I knew? Why did my heart still pine for him?

“Isabella!” I heard Maya shout my name in alarm.

“What’s going on?” I heard Lucy ask in alarm. “Isabella? What’s wrong to her?”

“I-I don’t know.” Maya stuttered. “I found her outside here and the moment she saw me she just fell to the ground in tears. She didn’t tell me what’s wrong, so I have no idea.”

Lucy pulled me into her arms and rocked me back and forth like a child. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

“Maya get Eden!” She shouted above me while continuing to hold me tightly against her.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell my sister that I was okay and not to worry. But I would be lying. I was most definitely not okay. I couldn’t even stop the tears from flowing long enough to speak a single word!

A few minutes later I heard more footsteps and I already knew that they belonged to Eden without even having to look up.

“ISABELLA!” She shouted as soon as her eyes fell on me.

“What’s wrong to her?” She demanded as she took Lucy’s place and held my body against hers. “Tell me what’s wrong Isabella. Why are you like this? Please, please talk to me.”

I buried my face against her dress and kept on crying. I could feel the tension in my sister’s body as she begged me to tell her what was wrong. However, I still couldn’t open my mouth to say a single word. I didn’t know where this weakness and pain came from, it just hit me out of nowhere and I didn’t know how to get away from it.

I wasn’t sure what happened next. Shouting was happening all around me and I couldn’t even pay attention to it anymore. I was too consumed by my grief to know what was taking place. All I knew was that one minute I was in front of the door crying and the next I was placed into a bed.

I kept on crying and crying until there were no tears left inside of me. I didn’t know how long I was like that for but eventually I did look up and see that everyone was looking at me with panic in their eyes.

I opened my arms for Eden and she quickly hugged me. She rubbed my back and I fought against the sudden urge to cry again.

“Are you ready to tell us what’s wrong?” She asked me. “You have me extremely worried Isabella. I’ve never seen you like this before. I need to know what’s wrong. Did Hunter do something to you?”

As in harm me? Hunter would never intentionally do something to hurt me. I thought the words but I didn’t say it out loud. I realized that she was still waiting for me to respond and. I didn’t see a reason to lie, eventually everyone would find out when Hunter reappeared with her.

“M-Maggie, she came back.”

The entire room went dead silent at my confession. James and Austin gave each other confused looks. I could understand why. I understood that everyone would look that confused when I told them of this news.

“You can’t be speaking about his dead wife?” Lucas asked in disbelief.

I nodded. “It’s a long story but she isn’t dead. She’s very much alive. She returned to Hunter and it immediately meant that we were no longer married since he was still married to her. . .”

I didn’t have the strength to explain more about this entire situation, it only brought back the memories that were still fresh in my mind.

“Did that a*****e really throw you out after his dead wife showed up?” James growled.

I shook my head immediately. I didn’t want anyone to think badly of Hunter. He’d already been misjudged so much in the past because of Maggie. I didn’t want my family hating him for the wrong reasons.

“I left on my own will. I just couldn’t stay in the same house with the two of them.” I explained. The tears were back again and I couldn’t stop it.

“F**k.” Austin hissed.

“We can bring Hunter here. Make him apologize. Anything that will make you feel better.” Lucas offered.

I immediately shook my head. “Please, don’t do anything that would cause him pain. Just let him be. I left so that he could be happy. I just want to move on with my life from now on.”

Eden held my hand tightly in hers. “Do you love him?”

I brought my gaze to hers and knew that I couldn’t hide it from her. She would be able to tell before I even answered her question.

“I do,” I whispered. “I know everyone knows him to be this cold hearted monster but he was never like that with me. He’s cared for me and protected me and has always been gentle no matter what. I just want him to be happy, he deserves to be happy.”

Eden looked surprised but I could see that she understood me and trusted my judgment.

“Alright, none of us will interfere with Hunter’s life since that is what you wish. But you must let us interfere in yours. I can’t see you like this. Let us help you to heal from this.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I needed my sisters more than ever to get through this pain. I didn’t think anything would be able to help me however.

. . . . . . . . .

~ERMANNO~

“I was thinking that we should go visit Isabella.” I announced to my brothers.

Nolan immediately looked up at that. “I was thinking the same thing, I’ve been feeling restless. I think something could be wrong to her.”

He was right. I’ve been restless for a while now. We all had reason to be. We’d married her off to Hunter the monster. It’s not like we had a choice. If we had a say in the matter our sister would be home here with us and away from any harm.

“How are we supposed to do that?” Thane asked. “The prosecutor is on our asses every single second. It’s because of him we haven’t paid her a visit as yet. He isn’t going to let us go so easily, he keeps thinking that we would bring trouble and cause him to lose Hunter as a client. They already aren’t on the best terms.”

Thane also spoke the truth. The prosecutor kept us home in front of his eyes at all times. He was scared that we would cause trouble. We were all desperate to check up on our sister. Lucy and Eden were safe and with mates that loved and treasured them. That wasn’t the case for Isabella. We needed to make sure that she was safe.

“Guys.” Luthais called trying to catch our attention. “When was the last time you’ve ever seen Marcus looking like he wanted to murder someone?”

“What?” I asked him.

He pointed to the bottom of the stairs where Marcus was storming up to us.

“What’s wrong?” I demanded as soon as he reached us.

“We have a serious problem.”

“What problem?” Thane demanded on high alert.

“Do you remember Hunter’s past wife? Maggie?” He asked us.

“You mean the one that’s supposed to be dead?” Nolan asked.

He nodded. “Well she isn’t dead after all.”

I felt my body stiffen at his words. “What do you mean she isn’t dead? People don’t just come back from the dead like that.”

He nodded. “I know but apparently she wasn’t even dead in the first place. Anyway, that’s not the biggest problem. Now that Maggie is back, it means that Hunter and Isabella aren’t really married.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Luthais asked us.

“I thought so at first.” Marcus admitted. “But then I overheard a conversation with the prosecutor and a few of the council members. They plan on getting Isabella remarried to someone else.”

I froze.

Get our sister married to someone else right after being forced to marry Hunter?

Oh hell no!